


Blue

by themightyhawk



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Gen, Marauders' Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-20
Updated: 2012-11-20
Packaged: 2017-11-19 02:42:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/568163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themightyhawk/pseuds/themightyhawk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of snapshots of every year in the Marauder's schooling.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Year

A month into the school year, Remus found his voice. Half-hoping he wouldn't be heard, he piped up, “You shouldn’t do that, you know. It isn’t nice.”

James stopped rolling up the strip of parchment he’d been planning on throwing in Lily Evans’ hair. James and Sirius turned in their seats as one to stare at the boy at the table behind them. They glanced at each other, in perfect synchronisation, and again at Remus.

“We don’t do it because it’s nice,” Sirius said lowly. “We do it because it’s very funny.”

Remus frowned. “I doubt Lily Evans would find it funny.”

They weren't being exactly stealthy, and Lily was only sat at the table directly in front of James and Sirius, so they shouldn't have been surprised when she turned and eyed them. “Did you say my name, Remus?” she asked.

Sirius and James looked a bit panicked, and shook their heads at Remus. He looked from one to the other, and at Lily, who was glaring at them both. He didn’t really want to tell on them, and he found himself saying, “Er - uh, no, sorry, Lily.”

When Lily huffed and turned back to the front, the swish of her hair dislodged most of the parchment projectiles, anyway. Miraculously, instead of angry, Sirius and James looked grateful.

“She’s got a talent for potions,” James whispered conspiratorially, leaning closer to Remus. “She’s already slipped something in my pumpkin juice once. I've no idea what it was, but it did a number on my digestive system.”

Sirius nodded sagely. “Poor bugger spewed blue for days. Hard times, they were. His tongue was polka-dot as well.”

Remus had no idea what to say about that, he just sat there as James and Sirius continued talking to him. He looked to his tablemate to see what he made of it, but Peter looked so starstruck by their company he didn't take any notice of Remus at all.

“But you - you’re friends with her, aren’t you?” James said, eyeing Remus in a fashion spectacularly similar to Lily’s. On his face it looked less frightening and more goofy.

Remus looked at him. “I suppose? She probably likes me because I don’t throw things at her.”

James looked thoughtfully to Sirius, and Sirius shook his head. He said to Remus, “Well, we don’t want her to like us.”

“Right! We don’t!” James said with gusto.

The professor who, at last sighting had been at the front of the room, appeared suddenly beside them. “Excuse me, gentlemen. Is my lecture not up to your standards? Is that why you’ve elected to ignore it?”

“Nonsense, professor,” Sirius said with a grin. “Your lectures have never been anything but satisfactory.”

The professor shook his head. “Cheeky,” he said. “Pay attention. Lupin, I expected better of you.”

Remus felt himself blush. “Of course, sorry sir,” he said. As soon as the professor’s back was turned, both Sirius and James stuck their tongues out at him. He surprised himself by returning the gesture.


	2. Second Year

“What are we doing?” Remus asked for the fourth time, wrapping his cloak tighter against the draft in the cold stone passageway. “Where are we going?”

“Somewhere we won’t be overheard,” Sirius said over his shoulder.

It was the first thing he'd said in over an hour, and Remus was beginning to get tetchy. The other three had been leading him for far too long, especially for being out of bed after hours.

Sirius and James were up and around the castle at least every other week, despite Remus’ best efforts to keep everyone in their beds. If they got up, then Peter got up, and Remus very much didn’t want to be left out so he dragged himself out of bed no matter how soon it was after the full moon and no matter how his bones creaked and no matter how much Madam Pomfrey said he needed rest. They called these little trips "field research," and had begun drafting a map of the castle so they’d never forget which secret passages were where.

So it wasn’t completely crazy when they’d jostled him awake in the dead of night and said simply, “C’mon.”

What was scary was that they hadn’t said anything since. Not until finally, in a shadowy passageway as far from prying ears as possible, lit dimly by the tips of their wands, they turned back to Remus and he pressed his back up against the wall. The cold seeped in through his nightclothes and he met each of their eyes one by one, suddenly terrified.

“We know what you are,” Sirius said somberly.

Remus’ heart stopped beating. He glanced about wildly for an exit strategy and wondered whether he'd be able to fight his way out if his friends had brought him here to hurt him. He wondered whether he could bring himself to try.

But Sirius just cocked his head to the side, scrunched up his brow. "Did you hear me, Remus?"

“Y-yes... What do you mean?” he asked numbly.

“He means we figured it out!” James said, hopping in place with excitement. “You’re a werewolf, we all know it, and it’s fine. Don’t worry.”

“I -” Remus stuttered. He swallowed hard and felt himself relaxing by increments. “I - I don’t - I’m... Are you not worried I’ll... eat you?”

Sirius scoffed. “As if you ever would. Lighten up, Moony.”

“Moony?” Peter said. “Is that not offensive to werewolves?” Everyone looked to Remus, who shrugged helplessly.

“You needn't worry,” he said, studying Remus' face. “We aren't going to tell. After all, once a marauder, you’re a marauder forever.”

James made a face. “When did we begin calling ourselves marauders?”

“We decided last week, you idiot,” Sirius replied. “Don’t you remember? In Binns’ class. 'Marauders are forever!' Or were you too distracted by the sheen of Ms Evans' hair?”

“It’s a bit pretentious,” Remus said, to stop James replying.

“Well you should’ve raised those concerns last week in History of Magic,” Sirius said reasonably.

Remus frowned. “Well, I was busy taking notes, Sirius.”

“Then next time you should prioritize.”

“But whose notes would we copy?” Peter asked.

Sirius burst, “Will you all shut up? We are called the Marauders and that’s that.”

They fell silent, and then James said, “At least I think we should vote on our motto. 'Marauders are forever' is a bit cloak-and-dagger for my tastes.”

“Well what do you suggest?” Sirius asked irritably.

They contemplated, although their feet grew cold in their slippers. Finally Peter offered, “Bollocks to the rules.”

“It’s direct,” James said decisively. “I like it, and I think it’s a good jumping off point.”

“How about, it’s not against the rules unless you’re caught,” Remus deadpanned. “Sirius says it often enough.”

“Now you’re getting it, Remus,” Sirius said, grinning his usual rogueish grin for the first time all day. “It's about time you take up the spirit. A true mischief-maker’s work is never done.”

They all nodded in agreement at this certainty. “Maybe that could be our slogan,” Peter said.

 

 

 


	3. Third Year

James gathered his courage and cornered her one day after Herbology class while Sirius, Remus, and Peter watched from a few yards away.

“Did you honestly think - you absolute berk,” Lily Evans’ voice was low and scathing. “After you’ve tortured me and my friends day in and day out, for ages - you honestly think I’d go out with you? Just because you play Quidditch and you think you’re so amazing?”

“Tortured - are you talking about Snivellus, Evans?” James said, smile fading.

Lily’s face grew redder. “His name is Severus and he is my friend! The answer’s no, Potter. You are arrogant, rude, and uninteresting, so if you could disappear now that’d be just fantastic.”

James’ face hardened. He hiked his book-bag on his shoulder and huffed. “Fine, if that’s the company you want to keep -”

“You could not Apparate away from me fast enough right now.”

“Fine!” he cried, turning on his heel and stalking back towards his friends. She did the same, neither one sparing the other a backwards glance. Sirius was doubled over in laughter and James glared at him. “You are the worst friend in the world.”

“He did tell you not to ask,” Remus said from where he sat at the base of the tree with a book in his face.

“Yeah, and I think that makes me the best friend in the world,” Sirius said, wiping away tears of mirth. “C’mon, it’s almost lunch.”

“I have a problem!” Peter cried from up the tree.

Sirius sighed deeply. “How many times do we have to tell you, Peter? If you can’t climb down don’t climb up!” He looked up at Peter, and threw his arms open in exasperation.

James reached down to help Remus to his feet. Offhandedly, Remus muttered, "I think he's broken more bones in the past year than I have." 

James was sulky about Lily so his voice came out a bit sharper and sarcastic than he'd meant. “Do you break a lot of bones, Remus?”

" _Every_ bone," Remus replied wryly. "Once a month."

"Oh," James said, abashed. "Right. That... that wasn't in any reading."

“Well, I do heal very quickly as I transform back, so you wouldn't know it happened unless you were actually, um,” he stopped and coughed meaningfully. He continued, "We don't tend to get to write the books."

James face lit up. “You could though. You're smart, Moony! You could, if you wanted.”

Remus shrugged noncommittally, fought down his smile. "Maybe someday."

“Really, this is so bloody ridiculous,” Sirius groused behind them. They turned to see Peter standing on Sirius’ shoulders and grasping a branch.

“I’m slipping,” he gasped.

Sirius said, “Don’t you bloody dare -” just as Peter toppled over.

“ _Mobilicorpus!_ ” James shouted, pointing his wand at Peter. Peter stopped just short of the ground with his head angled decidedly downwards, evening out and levitating just a few inches.

Everyone started breathing again as Peter fell out of the spell and let out an absurd giggle. In the wake of their adrenaline rush, they couldn’t help joining in, not even Remus, as he said, “Peter, you idiot, you could’ve died!”

“Yes! But I didn't,” Peter replied, his laughter dying out. He got to his feet, dusted off his clothes, and looked at his savior with nothing but trust in his eyes. “Thanks, James!”

 

 


	4. Fourth Year

They were in a secluded corner of the common room, half-hidden by an excessive amount of books. People kept glancing suspiciously at them, distrusting their quiet. Sirius, James, and Peter were so absorbed in their hushed conversation, they didn’t notice. Remus was the only one to catch the stares and he rolled his eyes.

“We’ve almost got it down, haven’t we?” Sirius said, sounding unbelieving and desperate even to his own ears.

“Would you say almost?” asked James with an ugly twist to his mouth.

Peter nodded encouragingly. “I think I very nearly had it last time.” Remus thought it was probably his imagination, but didn’t say so.

He heaved a tired sigh, throwing the book he’d been trying to read to the side. He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “I’ll say it once again: you don’t need to do this.”

“I’ll say it once again,” Sirius said mockingly. He looked up. “We _are_ doing this.”

Remus threw his hands up in defeat and fell back into his chair. James said to him, “We’ve put so much work into it now.”

“You don’t need -” Remus stopped short. “I’m perfectly fine without your help, you know, I really am.”

“You’ll be better with us around, though, I know it,” Sirius said. “You said so, it was in that - that book.”

Sirius scanned the stacks, looking for the book he was thinking of for a minute. He soon gave up, as he was wont to do and pointed at Lupin meaningfully. “Mark my words, Remus, for you’ll be eating them in a month.”

“A month?!” James exploded. Remus shushed him, glancing around the common room. James shrugged apologetically.

“A month,” Sirius said decisively. “And then we’ll be able to come with you on your midnight jaunts, and help you.”

“It might even be fun!” Peter cried.

Remus frowned. “I seriously doubt that.”


	5. Fifth Year

“Nice badge, Captain,” Sirius snorted into his cornflakes. James thumped him round the head before joining him at the breakfast table.

“It’s very shiny,” Peter said loyally.

“Thank you, Peter,” James said. “I appreciate your enthusiasm for my newfound superiority.”

From down the table came an unattractive cackle, as familiar as it was loud. James’ head turned instinctively, to catch one flaming red head bowed in a bowl of oatmeal, stifling laughter. _“What?”_ he said exasperatedly, pointedly in her direction.

“Why do you ask?” Sirius said to James, knowing he would be ignored. “You never like the answer.”

Lily looked to James and said nothing.

“Leave it,” Remus muttered, knowing he would be ignored.

“Oi, Evans, you don’t get to listen in on my conversations, passing judgement, and then ignore me when I actually speak to you,” James said, loud enough for everyone in the hall to hear.

Her face turned as red as her hair. “Well, if you didn’t speak like someone had cast a permanent Sonorus charm on you, maybe I wouldn’t have to hear your endless arrogant babbling.”

“Endless - listen, you -”

“Prongs, please,” Peter squeaked, knowing he’d be ignored.

Lily sneered. “Go on then, listen to your little friends, Potter. I wouldn’t want to have to write you up.”

“Write me up! Oh, that’s rich, as if you have the power -”

“You’re not the only one with a shiny new badge!” Lily snapped, producing a Prefects badge from her side. It glinted in the sunlight, and she grinned like a Cheshire cat.

James frowned, at a loss for words. He was unsure at what point in the conversation he'd gotten to his feet. After a moment he stuck his tongue out at her. She looked at him like he was something she’d found at the bottom of her shoe and told him to get stuffed before turning back to her friends.

Glancing nervously around the hall, finding a large number of people staring at him, James stood up and began to storm out.

“Wha - James!” Sirius called after him. “You’ve not eaten breakfast!”

“I’m not hungry,” they heard him grumble.

They all wearily gathered their things to follow. Sirius shook his head incredulously and looked to Remus. “First day of term’s going really well, don’t you think?”


	6. Sixth Year

Remus was understandably furious, but that didn't make it any easier for Sirius. He tried not to cringe when Remus raised his voice for maybe the third time in the six years they'd known each other. “What do you mean you’ve _lost it?”_

“Well, what does _lost it_ usually mean, Lupin? It means that it fell out of my bag, or someone’s nicked it, or I left it somewhere...” Sirius sighed, fell heavily into one of the plushy armchairs beside the fire in the common room. "I'm really sorry. Maybe we could replicate it or --"

James was pulling his hands through his hair, pacing in circles round his friends. He stopped and made a strangled little sound of frustration. “No! We’d finally gotten it perfect, Padfoot -”

“I said I was sorry!” Sirius protested.

“Yeah, I know you’re sorry,” James said, sitting down across from Sirius and letting the anger leach out of him. “The point isn’t that you’re sorry, the point is we’d finally done it - it - was our masterpiece!”

“We finished it less than _a week ago,”_ Remus said angrily. “How on earth did you lose it within the week? That takes a special talent for screwing things up that I thought only Peter possessed.”

“Yeah, no offense, but I did expect it to be you if anyone,” James said to Peter. “I’m proud of you, though. You’ve really proven you’re worthy of the name Wormtail.”

“Well thank you,” Peter said, delighted. “That means a lot, James.”

“Wait! Wormtail’s more trustworthy than me now?” Sirius cried. “He didn’t get a chance to screw it up! That shouldn’t count in his favor.”

“Can you take something seriously for once in your life?” Remus felt ready to tear his own hair out, but instead crossing his arms tightly around his middle. “We literally spent years on this map. All the nights crawling the castle, all the secret passageways we’ve had to find, all the bloody cartography manuals we read - it was all for _nothing_.”

Sirius bowed his head. He didn’t say anything, which was good, because Remus thought if he said sorry like it made up for anything one more time, he would haul off and smack him in the gob.

Then James giggled. Remus glared at him and he tried and failed to sober himself. “I’m - I’m sorry, mate, I was just thinking of - d’you remember, when we were trying to find the Room of Requirement and Wormtail thought he’d found it and it was a broom cupboard, but it turned out he’d found the broom cupboard?” James laughed again, and soon Peter joined in.

Remus felt a smile twitching his lips and said, “He kept saying, ‘I swear the door wasn’t here a minute ago!’” He laughed, and Sirius joined in.

"I'd been thinking of broom cupboards just a second before!" Peter gasped through laughter.

When they quieted down and after a moment's silence, Remus said, “I guess that was the fun part. Making the thing.”

“Really?” Sirius said, still shamefaced, which Remus appreciated. “It really was fun. And now we know every nook and cranny of this place, we don’t even need it.”

“Hopefully someone will find it,” Remus said sadly, collapsing back into his own chair.

James smiled wistfully. “Someone brave,” he said. “I hope it ends up in the hands of someone who’ll really make some proper mischief, really give them what-for.”

For a quiet second they all contemplated that far-off future person.

“It’ll probably be thrown away,” Peter said reasonably. “I mean, it looks like a bit of old parchment -”

James shut him up with a throw pillow to the face.


	7. Seventh Year

They were all proud of him, that couldn’t be denied, but it was a bit begrudging.

“I can’t believe he actually got her to go on a date with him,” Remus said for the fiftieth time.

Sirius nodded for the fiftieth time, and denied Peter's offer of a turn with the binoculars. “If that was me, I tell you what, I wouldn’t go out with a guy that kept bugging me and that. For seven years? Hardly. I’d deck him and have done with it.”

“Well, you’re a romantic,” Remus said dryly. He took the binoculars from Peter and brought them to his eyes. “I’m just glad we didn’t have to kill the both of them. They were insufferable. What Dumbledore was thinking, making them Head Boy and Head Girl, I’ll never know. And anyway, no one asked you. He looks happy - oh.”

“What ‘oh’?” Sirius said, turning to look for James in Madam Puddifoot’s from their vantage on a bench across the street. James was exiting the tea shop, stalking towards them.

“What’s going on?” Peter said. “Did it not go well?”

James shrugged. “It’s going okay, I suppose, she's just sent me to get rid of the three of you.”

Sirius scoffed. “Well you just tell her, Marauders stick together, and if she wants you then the three of us come with.”

“I will do no such thing,” James said sternly. “You lot clear out, or I swear you’ll all wake up puking blue."


End file.
